Jack's Letter
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: After being rescued, Jack asks Kate to stop running. Will she carry on running, or will Jack's words return forgotten feelings? JATE ONESHOT
1. Come Away With Me

Looking around him, at Kate's hotel room, Jack heard the distant stampede of water from the bathroom, where she was taking a shower. Not even thinking about what he could use that moment for, he quickly shook himself. He wouldn't do that - especially not to Kate, well, not intentionally anyway, that time in the hatch had been pure coincidence. He heard movement in the bathroom, and the sound of water began to fade, before stopping completely. He took the folded peice of paper from his pocket and set it down on the first available surface: the bedside table. He quickly backtracked, fortunately, as the door to her hotel room closed behind him, he was faintly aware of the sound of another door being closed. He sighed heavily, trying not to panick about what he had just done. Turning, he went back down to the bar where some of the other survivors were waiting for him

Kate had dressed in a tank top and three-quater length leggins, ready to go to bed, and had just sat down on her bed brushing through her wet hair when she stopped the peice of paper. She hadn't noticed it before, and she picked it up curiously, staring at her name which had been written in a tidy print on the front. She didn't recognise the writting, but that wasn't what was on her mind. She hadn't put it there, and it was placed carelessly, as if someone had been in a hurry to leave it there. Curious, she opened it, after all, it was addressed to her.

_Kate,_

_Whilst you are reading this, 60 things are happening in the world._

_1. Someone is very proud of you._

_2. Someone is thinking of you._

_3. Someone is caring about you._

_4. Someone misses you._

_5. Someone wants to talk to you._

_6. Someone wants to be with you._

_7. Someone hopes you aren't in trouble_

_8. Someone is thankful for the support you have provided._

_9. Someone wants to hold your hand._

_10. Someone hopes everything turns out all right._

_11. Someone wants you to be happy._

_12. Someone is celebrating your success._

_13. Someone wants to give you a gift._

_14. Someone thinks that you are a gift._

_15. Someone hopes you are not too cold_

_16. Someone hopes you are not too hot._

_17. Someone wants to hug you._

_18. Someone loves you._

_19. Someone admires your strength_

_20. Someone is thinking of you and smiling._

_21. Someone wants to be your shoulder to cry on._

_22. Someone wants to go out with you and have lots of fun._

_23. Someone thinks the world of you_

_24. Someone wants to protect you_

_25. Someone would do anything for you._

_26. Someone wants to be forgiven by you._

_27. Someone is grateful for your forgiveness._

_28. Someone wants to laugh with you._

_29. Someone remembers you and wishes that you were there._

_30. Someone is praising God for you._

_31. Someone needs to know that your love for them is unconditional._

_32. Someone values your advice._

_33. Someone wants to tell you how much they care _

_34. Someone wants to share their dreams with you._

_35. Someone wants to hold you in their arms_

_36. Someone wants you to hold them in your arms_

_37. Someone treasures your spirit._

_38. Someone wishes they could stop time to spend another second with you._

_39. Someone is thankful for your friendship_

_40. Someone can't wait to see you again._

_41. Someone loves you for who you are._

_42. Someone loves the way you make them feel._

_43. Someone wants to be with you forever._

_44. Someone wants you to know they are there for you always._

_45. Someone is glad that you're their friend._

_46. Someone wants to be your friend._

_47. Someone stayed up all night thinking about you._

_48. Someone is alive because of you_

_49. Someone is wishing that you noticed them._

_50. Someone wants to get to know you better._

_51. Someone wants to be near you._

_52. Someone misses your advice and guidance._

_53. Someone has faith in you_

_54. Someone trusts you...a lot. _

_55. Someone needs your support._

_56. Someone needs you to have faith in them._

_57. Someone needs you to let them be your friend._

_58. Someone hears a song that reminds them of you._

_59. Someone wishes they could tell you how they feel._

_60. Someone wishes you would feel the same._

_...And that someone is me._

_What if you fell in love with someone and then had to say goodbye, knowing that every time you wanted them there with you, they weren't?_

_And for every moment of happiness, there were ten of sadness? _

_I ask you this because I want to know what to do when we all go back to our old lives. I want to know how to carry on when we are forced to go our seperate ways. I want to know how to function when you're not there anymore. It sounds stupid, I know. It's taken me a whole day to write this, and it would have taken you a few minutes to read it. But I've realised something the past year we've spent on the island, something that I never thought I'd realise, and that is that I love you, Kate. There's no other way to say it. When I am not with you, I'm thinking about you, and when we're together, even if it is with the others, every moment is...indescribable. What I meant to ask you though, it to come back to L.A with me. I'd hate to think of you on the run again, even though you're not wanted anymore. I'd love it if you would join me, even if it's just for a few weeks, or if you want somewhere to call home, it's yours. It's your call. If you've read this before morning, I'll be waiting down in the bar for whatever you want to say, if anything._

_All my love,_

_Jack._

To her suprise, she found herself reading the last bit of the letter aloud, with tears in her eyes. She smiled, wiping under her eyes before she embarassed herself with crying over it. Not even bothering to blow dry her hair, as she hadn't for a year now, she stood up, going downstairs to where Jack was waiting. As she rushed into the elevator, she realised that everything was going to change. There was nothing keeping them from the harsh reality of society anymore. No more nighttime walks in the jungle, no more guava, no more island, no more them...unless she changed it now.

"How long are you going to sit here, Doc?" Sawyer asked him, passing him a glass of some kind of alcohol, he didn't bother to ask which sort, he just drank it straight away, which for something Sawyer was giving him, could have been dangerous. Yet they were in a hotel bar, so they doubted it was anything poisonous.

"All night if I have to." He replied.

"I hope you don't intend to be drinking all that time," Sayid, looking at him strangely as he had downed the glass. "You'll be completely drunk when she gets here."

"I think he already is." Charlie said, cocking his head to one side as he looked at Jack.

"If she comes." Jack corrected.

"Why are you thinking negatively, this is Kate!" Sayid chided. "She'll come."

"How do you know that?" Jack asked him, ignoring the look of humorous satisfaction on Sawyer's face.

"Are you blind?" Sayid asked. "We've seen the way she looks at you."

"It's true." Michael added in. "She's got it for you."

Jack went silent, staring at the bottom of the glass. After a few minutes, Michael cleared his throat. "What?" He asked.

"Good move, Romeo." He said with a sly smile. "Here she comes."

Jack resisted the urge to look over his shoulder. What if they were winding him up? "She's coming?"

"She's looking around." Michael commentated. Sawyer waved over Jack's shoulder at her. "She's seen us. And she's coming over."

"Shit!" Jack swore. "Really?"

"Really." Sawyer confirmed, enjoying seeing Jack squirm. "You've got ten seconds."

Jack stood up, and came face to face with Kate. She looked at him with a strange look in her eyes, which he didn't actually know what it meant - he could never read her like he had been able to read others. "Kate..." He began, and he heard the shuffle of chairs behind him.

"See you later, Doc!" Sawyer called as he, Charlie, Sayid and Michael disappeared somewhere, leaving Jack and Kate alone in the bar.

She walked past him and sat down, Jack following suit after a few seconds, taking the chair beside her. "I found your letter." She told him, when he didn't say anything else. "It was beautiful."

Beautiful? He hadn't been expecting that. "I'm glad you liked it." Was all he managed to say. Somehow, the words weren't coming as easily as he'd hoped. He wasn't entirely sure he was speaking English.

"I loved it." She told him. "I didn't know that tomorrow was going to be as hard for you as it was for me." She admitted.

They looked at each other, and Jack saw a vunerability in her eyes. He took her hand. "If you don't want to, I'll understand." He reassured her.

"I know, but you'll have to tie me down to stop me." She said with a smile. "I'd love to come with you."

"Really?" He asked, just to be sure that this wasn't some big practical joke.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's time for me to stop running, Jack. I- I love you too." She whispered. As she spoke, Jack grinned his trademark cheeky grin that only ever was around when Kate was near, and they hugged, before kissing. He could hear sounds of disgust as their lips locked, and know that Sawyer and the others hadn't disappeared completely as much as spied on them. It didn't matter to him though. All that mattered to him now was the woman in his arms.


	2. A New Home

**I didn't really mean for this to be a continuous fic, but because everyone wants an update, I'm going to do a few more chapters to it. I'm going to try and get another chapter up for this today as well. If not, it will be a few days yet because I've got some stupid rule where the computer has to be off for Xmas eve, Xmas day, and Boxing day. I think I'll have withdrawal symptoms - lack of Jate! So merry christmas to you all!**

The next morning came sooner than they all expected. Suddenly, after their long year on the island, the survivors were forced to say goodbye to each other. Some knew that they would never see some of their friends again, but others were determined to stay in contact, and were frantically exchanging email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of where they would be staying. Most people were going back to L.A, so they would see each other on the plane anyway. They had all been given free flights with a different airline, NOT Oceanic to everyone's thanks, and they had all been given large amounts of compensation from the company, meaning that none of them were short for money.

Jack was one of those travelling back to Los Angeles, and perhaps one of the calmest of passengers. Everyone else was hesistating walking up the steps, looking back all the time to try and find an escape. If he hadn't been holding onto Kate's hand so tightly, he was sure that she would have run away.

"Jack, are you sure there's no other way?" She asked awkwardly.

"Kate, come on, what are the chances of this happening again?" He said optimistically. Then again, what were the chances of them meeting in this in the first place.

"Come on, Kate, you're holding the whole plane up!" Charlie called from further down the line of passengers, and Jack saw Claire hit him lightly round the head over Kate's shoulder.

"Jack..." She pleaded, giving him that defeated look.

He returned the look with one of assurance, and gripped her hand. "Come on, just a few more steps, then we're on the plane, we're gonna sit down, and you can sleep all the way to L.A." He promised her. She raised an eyebrow at him, sleeping was the last thing on her mind. "Nothing is going to happen." He promised her.

Reluctantly, she slowly followed him onto the plane. She got a bit nervous upon discovering that they were sitting in row number 23, but Jack, again, assured her that there was nothing to worry about. The chances of crashing onto an undiscovered island ransacked with evil natives and experimental hatches with a different airline on the same flight path were highly unlikely. Besides, the weather was looking good, and there was no chance of them loosing radio contact again.

Having sat down, Kate gripped the arms of her seat and watched the other survivors come in. Charlie, Claire and Aaron ended up in the seats infront of them, which Kate was glad for, because she had become very friendly with Claire, and having some female company was something that she had liked on the island. After all, you can't talk to guys about _everything, _even if they are doctors. Hurley was across the other side of the plane, having already made himself at home with a new CD player, and a few snacks to keep him going. Sayid and Shannon got in the middle aisle, and as usual, Sayid got his usual stares upon entering the plane, but this time, because he was a celebrity.

One thing that Kate hadn't liked about returning was the publicity. Seeing the headline _Doc Dates Ex-Criminal _with a picture of her and Jack getting off the rescue boat wasn't exactly one to frame on the mantlepeice back home. Of course, seeing her name cleared on the front page the next day was definately one she wanted to keep, and she knew that Jack had secretly kept it for this purpose, because further down in the article, was a picture of her being released from a holding cell, and beside it, one of her and Jack; she had run up to him and jumped into his arms after finding out she was free, and he was holding her in the middle of all the photographers while they hugged. She couldn't think of a better way to celebrate her freedom than with Jack. She was glad that she had a picture of it, even if it was a 3x2 in a newspaper column.

Looking around at the strangers on the plane, Kate remembered the people that wouldn't be getting on this flight. The people that she might not see again. Sun and Jin were staying in the hotel for one more night before their returning flight to Korea. They had promised to visit, but it was still strange to go from seeing someone everyday to seeing them every other month. Kate felt a hand go over her own, and she held it, turning to face the man who could send electricity through her veins with such a soft touch. At least she would still be able to see him everyday.

"Are you going to miss it?" She asked quietly, still looking at the passengers.

"The plane?"

She shook her head, turning to face him. "The island."

Jack thought for a moment about all the things that there was to miss. It was where he and Kate met. They had both made friends there, friend who had become more like family in their time spent surviving together. He remembered all the times where people hadn't been scared, like their meals around the fire at night...having Kate fall asleep in his arms without her worrying about the people watching them...picking fruit with her...listening to Charlie sing to Claire's baby...seeing Sun and Jin when they weren't arguing. All his best memories included smiles, and peaceful looks, which were rare in their time there.

"Yeah..." Jack answered. "Yeah, I'll miss it."

Kate was silent for a moment, and then brushed some of her hair behind her hair. "Me too." She agreed. "Everything was so simple there."

"Apart from the hatch, the monsters, crazy French women..." Jack listed.

Kate laughed at him, and he leaned in to give her a kiss. "So, Dr Shephard." Kate said professionally. "What's next on the agenda?"

Letting their lips touch, Jack grinned playfully. "We're going to survive a plane flight, then we get a cab back to my place, hope that the spare key is still where I hid it, and then we're getting take out." He told her.

"You're finally going home and all you can think about is food?" She asked. "Haven't you eaten enough the past week?"

Jack laughed. "Ok, eating, sleeping, and movies." He nodded to himself. "Yeah, thats it, we'll watch a movie."

Kate nodded, leaning back comfortably in her seat. "Sounds good to me."

"Which movie?" Jack asked.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "What ones have you got?"

Jack thought back to his DVD collection that he hadn't thought about in a year. "Um...Jurassic Park?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "A film about running away from monsters on an island?"

"They're dinosaurs, not monsters." He corrected. "Completely different. How about, Mission Impossible?"

"Which one?"

"The second one." He told her. He had always preferred the second one to the first, except the part where Tom Cruise was hanging from their ceiling vent. That was always something he had secretly wanted to do.

"With the strange illness?" Kate tested again.

"Oookkkk." Jack answered. Trying desperately to think of a movie that didn't tie in with their experience on the island. "I got it! American Pie? Ever seen the third one?"

"There's a third one?"

"American Pie, the Wedding." He noticed her strange expression. "Seriously, you've never seen it?" She shook her head. "We're watching that." He decided for them.

"Yes sir." She answered with a salute.

The fasten seatbelts sign went on, and they began to take off. Kate's nerves set in again, and she didn't let go of Jack's hand for the whole trip.

* * *

"Home sweet home."

They had got out of the cab and looked upon what Kate knew to be everything she had ever dreamed of. The house in the suburbs. Sure, the front garden was a little messy, in fact, it looked like a jungle of its own, she couldn't imagine what the back looked like. The windows were dusty from not being cleaned for a year or so, and she didn't imagine that was something Jack would normally do anyway. When Jack led her inside, the first thing she was met with was a lot of photographs on the wall. There was a space in the middle of them all where one looked like it had once hung there, but had been taken down. She didn't ask about it. The others were all clearly Jack, even as a child with his parents, or whom she imagined to be his parents, he still looked the same. He still had those kind eyes and the sensitive smile.

"I know the place is probably a mess. I wouldn't expect my Mom to do any cleaning for me." He laughed it off. Walking into the living room, he saw that he was right. Even the television guide was in the same place as where he had left it before he went to Australia. Turning around, he saw Kate was standing in the doorway looking around her with wide eyes. The whole place was just so...homely. How strange that she could feel so at home in a house she had only been in for thirty seconds, but never feel at home where she had grown up and lived for twenty four years. "You Ok?" He asked her.

She nodded, still looking around her. "Probably just jetlag." She shrugged off. "What time is it?" She asked.

Jack found a clock still working over on the coffee table. "12.45." He told her.

She nodded vaugely. "Ok."

He looked at her before asking again. "Sure you're alright, you look a little ... pale."

She smiled and nodded. "I'm just tired." She said, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his stomach.

"That's what you get when you don't sleep on the plane." He chided her.

"You can talk, Jack, you didn't sleep either." She pulled him over to the couch. "Come on, lets just sleep for a bit."

Jack sat down, pulling her down with him. They naturally fell into a comfortable position where Kate had her back against his chest, lying between his legs. Jack put his arms over her stomach, keeping hold of her, and leaning his head atop of hers. After a few moments, he heard her whisper gently to him, "Hmm...love you." She sighed sleepily.

He smiled, although she couldn't see it. "I love you, too." He whispered back. "Welcome home, Kate."

* * *

When Kate awoke, she felt slightly cold. She shook herself for a moment to remind herself, as she did most mornings, that she wasn't on a sunny island anymore. Opening her eyes, she remembered that she was in L.A now, with Jack. She smiled to herself, then realised that he wasn't lying next to her anymore. Her eyes fell upon the clock, and she saw that it was now 3.20 in the afternoon. She had only been asleep for 2 and a half hours, but she felt much more refreshed. Standing up from the couch, a blanket fell at her feet. Jack must have draped it over her, because she didn't remember having one when she fell asleep. The first thing she saw was a peice of paper beside the clock. She picked it up and unfolded it.

_Dear Kate. _Oh yeah, this was from Jack. Him and his letters, she thought to herself.

_Sorry that I disappeared on you, but I needed some things from the store, and you looked to happy asleep to wake you up. I should be back in an hour or so, depending on traffic. If there's anything you need, my cell phone number is still on the fridge I think, I couldn't remember the number then, and I still can't remember it now. Just give me a call if you think of anything you want. If you want a shower, the bathroom is upstairs, second door on the right. I'd say to help yourself to food, but thats the reason I've gone out. The expiry date on everything is about six months ago, and as hungry as I am, I don't want either of us to get food poisoning. Make yourself at home, Kate. I meant what I said, you can stay here as long as you like, and I'm glad you came. We saw each other every day on the island, I think seeing you for a day here or there once a year would be too hard to cope with, but I understand if you need to go. Just know that I love you, and no matter what, you'll always have a home with me._

_See you soon, Love Jack._

Smiling at his words, Kate folded up the paper. Seeing a pen with a notepad beside it, she had an idea and began writing her own letter. After writing it and leaving it beside his, she went upstairs for a shower, hoping that Jack came back before she was done.


	3. Forever

Jack came back into the house, closing the door behind him as gently as possible, in case Kate was still asleep. He put the bags of groceries down on the kitchen table, and looked throught into the living room, expecting the silence of the house to mean that Kate was asleep, but she wasn't. She wasn't even lying on the couch anymore. Frowning he stepped into the living room, throwing his jacket onto an empty chair.

"Kate?" He called out. There was no reply. He was just about to go upstairs and check when he noticed that his letter was not alone on the coffee table anymore.

Beside it was another peice of paper. Picking it up and unfolding it in his hands, he realised that he had never seen the handwriting before. It was messy, but neat, and although there were no fancy loops and curls, the letters slanted off to the left professionally. It was a lot longer than his letter, but then his had been slightly rushed, at first. Reading through it, he sat down on the couch. This what what he had been afraid of: Kate taking off and leaving a goodbye note.

_Hey Jack,_

_I don't know how I'm going to thank you for this. When we were on the island, we were constantly thinking back to the lives that were here. My life is still out there somewhere, and someday, I wanted to find that part of me again. Yet another part of me wanted it to stay missing forever. I guess that our other selves are hard to let go of._

_When I was a little girl, I always had this dream that once I found the man I loved, I would be happy forever. Then, when I thought I found him, I was mistaken. I wasn't happy, I wasn't safe, but more importantly, I wasn't me. Everything in my life has been a disappointment, and I have been a disappointment to everyone. Until now._

_Suddenly, I'm stranded. Lost. There's nowhere to run when you're lost. I didn't know what to do, where to turn, and I found myself longing for that feeling of security and love more than ever. _

_Then there was you._

_You didn't show me the way out like I thought you would. You just showed me yourself, and expected the same in return, and I came to realise that you were the way out. However, the best thing you showed me was that I was wrong before. The reason I hadn't been happy in love before was because I wasn't in love. I have feelings for you that I never thought I'd experience, and to have those feelings returned only intensifies them. _

_From the moment I realised this, I wasn't lost anymore. In the middle of danger, I started to feel safe, knowing that every pulse of fear and adrenaline was worth it if I could come out of it with you. You made me laugh when I didn't even want to smile. You're just amazing, Jack, and I love you so much that sometimes I don't know what to do with myself. _

_So I'm not going to run anymore. I can't. How could I leave, knowing that I wasn't running from myself anymore, but from you? Knowing that this time I'm leaving somebody behind who actually cares for me? I don't think I could, and I'm not even going to try it. I meant what I said, too. It's time for me to stop running, and I'm glad that it's you who made me realise that. So if you're looking around the room wondering where I am, I haven't left you. The only thing that could make me leave is you not wanting me here._

_Love, Kate._

_xxx_

_P.S You're not the only one who can leave letters lying around._

"Hey."

He looked up from the bottom of the letter to see Kate standing at the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing a fresh pair of clothes, and her thick curly hair cascaded over her shoulders. It seemed a lot thicker than usual, and knew that she had just blow dried it with the hairdrier that she had brought back in Sydney. He looked from her, down to the note in his hands, and then back again.

"Hey." He replied back, unsure of what else to say. What else could he say to the woman who brought a thousand words to his heart but left him speechless?

"You got the letter." She stated. It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah, it's beautiful." He said quietly, as command of words finally came back to him. "I want you to know, Kate, that I do want you here, in my home, and in my heart."

She smiled, and came over to him, holding him closely. "I'm glad I don't have to run anymore." She said aloud.

"I hope you never have another reason to." He agreed. "I don't think I could live with myself if I forced you away from me."

She looked up at him. "Jack, nothing could do that." She assured him, and they kissed again, knowing that now, everything would be just fine between them.

FIN


End file.
